[mosh-users] Server install instructions and binaries

[Peter Jeremy]

On 2012-Apr-18 19:04:48 +0200, Alexander Klimetschek <alexander.klimetschek at googlemail.com> wrote:
>I am trying to use it on a Debian/GNU Linux and without the rights to
>install packages this is really difficult.

As long as you can execute binaries that you build, there is no
problem.  You don't need to install a package.

> Tried compiling from source
>as well, but got "configure: error: Unable to find byte swapping
>functions".

That's a separate issue and suggests there is something peculiar
with your system.

> But I shouldn't have to compile it anyway. And here the
>path ends for me, though I'd love to use it :-(

Well, if you can't install (even into your home directory) a package
someone else has built then you don't really have any option other
than compiling it yourself.

>The "You don't need to be the superuser to install or run Mosh."
>feature mentioned on the home page is actually not true if it's
>impossible to install/get binaries for the target platform.

If you are in a situation where either:
a) you cannot run executables that are not installed by an administrator
   and the administrator does not install mosh; or
b) you can't download a mosh-server binary for your system; or
c) you can't compile mosh from source;
then, yes, you can't use mosh.

> In the
>end, I expect the mosh client to install the necessary mosh-server
>binary *automatically* for me.

I sincerely hope this bug (it's not a feature) is never implemented.
I don't want tools installing arbitrary packages behind my back and I
probably want control over when, how and from where software is
downloaded.  Specifically, if I'm running mosh-client on a slow,
unreliable and expensive 3G link (is there any other kind?) I am
extremely unlikely to want mosh-client to download a mosh-server
binary from somewhere in the cloud and push it to the server I am
logging into.

>If it requires the server admin's to install mosh-server for every
>server that people connect to, this will certainly break adoption a
>lot.

There is obviously a chicken and egg situation with new protocols.  I
faced similar problems in the past as SSH supplanted TELNET.  mosh has
a major advantage here that it _doesn't_ require privileged access to
install the server side.

-- 
Peter Jeremy
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